Carries as Supports

Through the popularity of support Naga Siren and Doom bringer, carry heroes which have substantial early game support capabilities but can transition to carries later, I have wondered what other carries can fulfill this role effectively?

To a point, a person can argue that every carry can fill this role. However, I'm assume that the skill set of some carries are more for the empowerment of the hero, rather than the support of the team (ie. Anti-Mage / Weaver).

Now, this is just my humble opinion, and I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter, and ideas for possible carries for the role.

Spirit Breaker? I've played him as a support countless times with my team, and every time I've played support Spirit Breaker we've won. Just charge, get an ulti in and then let your teammates finish off the poor, stunned fellow.

Necrolyte is a classic example, start as a support to get some levels, and you can flash farm quickly once you've got Death Pulse and Sadist.

Sven is sometimes played a support due to his stun, same with Skeleton King (max aura next), Slardar can also be played like this and then transistion to an initiator.

Generally it's a case of looking at their skills and seeing where they could be used to good effect without much right click damage.

Yes, Naga Siren is a good support, i see that a LOT.
You can also play Outworld Devourer as a support, although not as common.
Magnus maybe too

I like a support Nature's Prophet,so safe and easy getting around everywhere to ward and TP'ing in to setup kills.

Support alchemist is really legit, his stun is just nasty with armor reduction so getting a medallion is great, later you can transitiom into a semi carry becouse of greevils greed.

If needed you can play support chaos knight, ofcourse go a 4-4-0-0 build and get soul ring.

Sven can do the same, get a blink, maybe farm a bit with your cleave and so you can right click with your ult on.

Kunnka support is also possible, but you probably need some setup becouse you will have less levels to put into X marks.

Gyro can also be played as a support and you can get raw damage later.

Watch Titan.Meracle play Naga, and you'll see how misguided her transition to support was. Sure you can be useful, but all that carry potential is wasted.

I don't see how its wasted, you play her as a very efficient support and then if she manages to get more gold than was intended she can become a very large lane pushing presence by buying just a Radiance and sending out illusion to Wave and sit there burning creeps or you can get minimal HP items like Drums or an Armlet and use a Diffusal to do all your damage.

The fact that she has potential at all while remaining a proficient support is what made her a higher tier pick, especially with and / or against ricing compositions.

Naga Siren is a good carry, but that "carry potential" can only be achieved through getting several large items, which are hard to farm. While Meracle somehow got even more last hits than his laning opponent in mid, this can not be expected from normal carry nagas, due to her awful base damage. Last hitting with Riptide isn't exactly reliable. (Speed gaming vs Titan game 2)

As a support, she only needs level 7 to be very, very effective.

As a carry, it's hard to get the items she needs to be the monster that she was in the Titan vs Speed gaming matches.

Also take note that in those games she was not able to beat the opponents in a straight out fight - their strategy was centered around (incredibly annoying) defense against speed gaming's pushing using the Naga Siren illusions.



Everyone can support - get some wards, get and upgrade the courier, get smoke, roam around and you're a support. However, some carries are undoubtedly more fit for a carry role that they're completely wasted as supports. (I.E Faceless Void, Phantom Assassin, Sniper, etc)

Most heroes with mass cc's as well as auras/skills which benefit the team can be considered for a support role. Examples of carry/supports would be Sven, Necro, Slardar, Magnus, Nature's Prophet, Alchemist, Spiritbreaker, the new Legion Commander, Vengeful Spirit, Axe (to a certain extent), Naga Siren, Doom, Meepo (?), Brewmaster, Abbadon, Visage, the list goes on.